Wednesday, April 2, 2014

What are the Biggest CX Mistakes?

Business can't implement CX if there is a lack of understanding strategically, culturally and finacially.

Optimizing customer experience becomes strategic focus for many forward-looking businesses today, however, there’re roadblocks on the way and pitfalls need to be avoided. First of all, what are the biggest CX mistakes?

Strategy (Diagnose the problems and set guidelines): In many cases, organizations don’t have CX strategy as integral component of business strategy; they have silo thinking upon customer experience only as customer service department’s responsibility.Without clear defined CX strategy, one of the biggest mistakes is to assume people know what 'Customer Experience' is. Let alone why CX specialists are needed. It's like a value proposition made to boil the ocean for most.  Business can't implement CX if there is a lack of understanding.

Culture Engagement (getting buy-in and involvement): One of the most fundamental and potentially damaging mistakes is often made when a company decides to 'take the plunge' and strategically focus on the customer. They jump straight in there, grasping for quick 'experience wins' without reflecting on whether their existing structure and culture is up to the task. Even those who understand the value of delivering great customer experiences may not be fully embedded in the language of Customer Experience in capital letters. 

Process & Capability (Customer-centricity is a long-term process and cultivated capability for a company), and it absolutely must start with a healthy dose of introspection: Sometimes, enthusiasm from one part of the organization for a quick customer wins (in a particular area) without ensuring that the rest of the organization is exactly on the same page and able to support the customer's expectations. At the most fundamental level, customer experience evangelists (like believers/specialists/ experts in many fields) can sometimes forget that many people will not be on the same page as them as it lacks the communication channels and design processes to implement CX strategy or sustain the quick wins. The most essential aspect of CX is the need to establish the right customer-centric processes & capabilities throughout an organization.

Action (It is about using customer information to drive change and results): Sometimes organizational part of the enterprise starts CX initiatives without a clear handle on its span of control to make things happen, so an iron clad understanding of leadership support and span of influence is the key. Actions need to be part of good CX strategy that is upon how to use customer information to drive change and results. From functioning to firm to delight, the organizations have to nurture the high-mature capability to delight customers for the long term.

The lack of financial outcomes is probably the biggest mishap of CX. Nothing is like connecting CX efforts with hard business outcomes. Measuring the cost to the business of not doing the basics would be the first place to start the ROI. While intuitive persuasion is important, it does appear that the mathematics of CX is the one analysis that will really turn the businesses to the high performing business for the long term.  



Being customer-centric is a journey, from strategy to action; from culture to capability; from art of design to science of metrics, CX has to overcome the barriers and reach the new height to delight customers and improve business maturity. 

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